A Taste of Felicity
by emichama
Summary: His wandering thought and the beautiful sight in front of him were meant to allure him, meant to make him wonder what happiness tasted like… [JERZA] [ONESHOT]


Mavis,_ forbid_ him to lean in and kiss her right then.

There was **nothing** more enticing than the sight of Erza, and even more, she was dressed nicely and taking the time to bite and nibble into the strawberries he had told her not to touch. She, unlike her rough disposition, had a soft side for sweet things, and by far, her weakness was strawberry cake. Far beyond that, however, she couldn't restrain herself from snacking on the strawberries, nor could she bake a cake for herself. She was rendered helpless, and she had turned to Jellal for his expertise.

Being in her presence was tempting. His thoughts were scrambled, shaken, and left to wander as he attempted to distract himself with other things, trying to avert his eyes from her lips. She seemed unaware, enjoying the fruit as she propped herself to sit on the counter. It seemed that her eyes never strayed far beyond the strawberry or the oven. Because of this, something inside Jellal was screaming for him to get her attention, but he didn't know how.

Fiddling with the dishes that remained on the counter, he begun to clean up after the mess the two had made in preparations for the cake. At some point, Erza had managed to sweep her finger through the cake batter, and she had given it a taste. It seemed as though each thing she did was meant to tease him more and more, but he knew that she wasn't intending it at all. All she was doing was snacking on a strawberry and tasting the batter, against Jellal's "rules."

"Some rules are meant to be broken," she had reasoned with him. He gave in to her, letting her give the cake another sampling before putting it in the oven. After that, she went straight for the strawberries, which he said was to remain untouched until the cake was ready. Of course, this time, he didn't argue, because he was too caught up in her _lips._

He figured that he was being obsessive, so cleaning was something to take his mind-_and eyes_-off of Erza. The sound of running water pulled Erza from her daze, and she turned to peek over at Jellal. She asked if he needed assistance, but he refused, saying that he could do it. He could do it, but the thought of Erza coming up beside him made his body warm, and he didn't think he could bear putting up with her beside him, occasionally brushing against him…

_Stop._

_Stop it, stop it, stop it_. Jellal snapped himself out of his thoughts, reassured when he heard Erza plop back down to her feet to fetch another few strawberries. Despite his desire to grab ahold of her and kiss her, he also knew that when Erza was relaxed, being that she always seemed so stressed, and her calmness soothed him as well. She was at peace, eating her fresh summer fruit, and even more, she was in for a treat after.

Jellal knew that it was unusual that she hadn't just ordered several _hundred_ Fantasia or strawberry cakes from the nearby bakery. Erza usually took her cakes in quantity and quality, and never before had she requested that someone come to help her bake a cake, so Jellal couldn't help but wonder why she had decided to call on him. However, he always found a way to flee from her, because he couldn't help but feel that Erza was out of reach, so he ran away. He couldn't help but figure that Erza was yearning to spend time with him, and she knew there was no way that he could turn her down.

Finishing up with dishes, he perked up a bit when he heard the oven go off. Behind him, Erza took the final bite of her strawberry, finishing it off, and tossed the pit into the trash. Slipping past Jellal, she ran warm water over her hands, washing them clean. Turning around, she was ready to start with the frosting, making sure that the extra strands of hair that fell in her face were pulled and tied up in the back, and fixed the apron wrapping around her.

Erza's gaze followed Jellal as he moved to the fridge, opening it. He crouched down, searching for the strawberry frosting, which Erza had requested that they add pink food coloring into. Pulling it out, he stood once more, and turned to Erza. "The rest is my job, which is a gift for you," he said, turning his head in the direction of the dining room. He was signaling for her to wait in there, which caused a look of suspicion and excitement to arise on Erza's face.

Taking him a bit longer than he had expected, he topped the cake with the frosting. Spreading and evening it until it seemed as close to perfect as he could get, he parted ways with the frosting and said "hello" to a can of whipped cream. Bordering the top and bottom edges of the cake with it, he moved to the bowl of strawberries, which had been emptied to a single remaining one.

"_Erza…_" he grumbled, just loud enough for her to hear in the other room.

Hearing her chuckle, she called back, "Sorry," still a bit caught up in her own scheming.

At least she bothered to leave one, he reasoned, giving a disappointed look to the strawberry, as though a single fruit had a way to stop Erza from snacking on all the others. Moving back to the fridge, he smiled to himself, pulling out a second bowl which was filled with perfectly cut strawberries. He had thought ahead of time, figuring that Erza wouldn't listen to him when he said not to touch the cake toppings.

Finishing with the cake decorations, he took the single strawberry that had been left in the bowl, and placed it at the center. He knew that he should have let the cake cool a bit more before applying the frosting, but Erza was a bit impatient that particular day. Carrying the tray of cake with a look of self-satisfaction in his eye, Jellal placed it as a centerpiece between Erza and the seat that he would be taking.

Her face lit up. She thanked him endlessly, reaching for the knife that he had brought over, but he refused to let her have it. As he took his seat, he reminded her, "It's a gift for you, from me." She couldn't help but eagerly watch him as he cut into the cake, cutting each and every slice with precision. Eventually, he lifted a slice to her plate, and one to his own, but he didn't touch it, or even spare it a glance.

Taking his fork, he gave Erza a look that said to not touch her own. The suspicion was growing thicker on her expression, her eyes thinning. She couldn't divert her thoughts from how the cake smelled and looked delicious, so how did he expect her to restrain herself from eating it?

Before her mind wandered any farther,-before she could _only_ think about cake-she reminded herself that she wanted to spend time with Jellal. During the entire wait, yes, she wanted to eat the strawberries, but they were the only thing keeping her from worrying if Jellal would run away again, but even more, they kept her from letting her mind wander to doing more_ romantic_ things with Jellal than just baking a cake.

He reached across the table, pushing the cake out of his way, and dug his fork into Erza's slice. Lifting it to her mouth, he said, "Tell me what you think." He couldn't have her take the first bite on her own, thinking it would make her want to finish the rest before she answered. Hesitantly, she took the bite, allowing herself to savor the sweet flavor and sensation of the cake. She _drowned_ in it, washed over by it. Swallowing, she couldn't help but blurt out about how she loved it, which caused her eyes to widen in perplexity, because she had never been one to so openly confess what she liked, or even loved. An outburst seemed out of character, and Jellal seemed just as surprised by it, as well.

By the time that they had finished their fair share of the cake, which had mostly gone to Erza, the two stood to clean up. Jellal bothered to give Erza a final look, her eyes soft with serendipity, and he knew that there was nothing more beautiful than Erza when she was at peace.

"Erza," he called, quietly. His heart sped up and his lungs tightened, making it hard for him to breathe.

"Yes?"

Reaching across the table, he placed his hand on her shoulder and pulled her in. Placing the softest kiss on her lips, the sweet taste of strawberries lingering, he couldn't help but think… _Is this what happiness tastes like?_

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I'm absolutely in love with this oneshot now! I've been dying to write Jerza fluff, because if there's one thing the Fairy Tail fandom needs more of, it's Jerza fanart and fanfics! Anyhow, I hoped that you all enjoyed this!**

**This is dedicated to my new friend, Mira (27kirune12) because she's my new Jerza buddy and I promised her a Jerza oneshot to thank her for all of her lovely ideas and help! Also, the picture that I chose for the cover is drawn by me, which can be found on my tumblr (emichama) under the tag #outlinemi! This fanfic will also be posted on there too, eheheh cx**

**For those of you who haven't read my FT chapter fic AU called Breaking the Boundary, please, do check it out! At the moment, it is my current pride and joy! I do update weekly, so that's always good!**

**If you enjoyed this little oneshot, please check out my other stuff! Also, drop a review for me to read because those never fail to make me happy! They always encourage me to keep writing, and they make me feel like I'm doing a good job! Anyhow, bye-bye now!**


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